Reading of Com Sol e Sal, eu Escrevo by Sidónio Muralha, performed by João Morales
Solange Azevedo: No Mesmo Espaço (2026) / EA (commissioned by Miso Music Portugal)
Steve Reich: Drumming (1971)
In 2026, we will celebrate the 90th birthday of Steve Reich, a key figure in American contemporary music. To mark this important occasion, the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra (OCP) Percussion Group, conducted by Pedro Carneiro, and the Música Viva festival present Drumming, a legendary work and one of the most significant examples of American minimalism. A trip Reich made to Ghana in 1970 influenced the conception of this musical work, prompting an exploration of the sonic richness of percussion, acoustic timbre and short, repetitive patterns, carefully misaligned in a process that integrates multiple dynamics of rhythmic tension and the radical creation of new combinations.
Drumming is his longest composition (lasting between 55 and 75 minutes, depending on the number of repetitions) and is based on the final refinement of a process of rhythmic shifting which he termed ‘phasing’. It consists of four parts performed without interruption: the first section is for four pairs of tuned bongos; the second, for three marimbas and two female voices; the third, for three glockenspiels, a whistle and a piccolo; and the fourth section brings together a large ensemble comprising all these instruments and voices (which do not sing words, but mimic the sound of the instruments, becoming an integral part of the instrumental acoustic texture). The music, from its vibrant opening, maintains a single fundamental rhythmic pattern of twelve beats, which undergoes changes in phase, pitch and timbre, culminating in an exultant finale.
In contrast, the work by Solange Azevedo (b. 1995), the composer selected for the “MÚSICA VIVA – Iberian Call for Female Composers”, will receive its world premiere. Under the theme of Insurgency and inspired by the instrumentation of Drumming, Solange Azevedo poetically explores the magic of the interaction between the pair of marimbas (both played four-handed, evoking Schubert’s intimate forms) with the flute and the voices. Of particular note is the use of threaded wooden rods on the marimba keyboard, enabling a new cantabile sound from the instrument—a sonic quality typically associated with string instruments or the human voice itself.
In his own words: “There is a calculation that estimates the approximate number of colours that human vision is capable of distinguishing. This number is necessarily limited and determined by the physiology of the eye and the brain, and also varies from person to person. This perceptual variability supports the view that the experience of colour is neither fixed nor universal, but depends on the gaze that perceives it. In the same space uses the visible spectrum as a starting point to reflect on diversity. If light encompasses millions of chromatic variations, so too does the world contain multiple modes of existence. Diversity is not an exception, but rather a constitutive part of reality. Every moment of the piece resembles the contemplation of an imagined light. We observe how it moves and spreads through space, revealing colours — sometimes slowly and gradually, at other times more rapidly.”
Separated by more than a generation in terms of age and more than fifty years in terms of composition date, the works of Reich and Azevedo converge at this moment in time and space to celebrate the chromatic richness of the world, through light, vigour and the vital impulse expressed by the voices, wind instruments and mallets of this Percussion Group of the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra (OCP) and guests.
The Portuguese Chamber Orchestra – Musical Association was founded by Pedro Carneiro, Teresa Simas, Alexandre Dias and José Augusto Carneiro in 2007, making its debut at the opening of the Belém Cultural Centre’s season, at the invitation of António Mega Ferreira, who, alongside Miguel Coelho, spearheaded the OCP.
The OCP has public utility status and promotes initiatives such as Notas de Contacto, dedicated to people with cognitive disabilities, the Orquestra dos Navegadores and Sementes, for children and teenagers, and OCPdois – a meeting point for professional and amateur musicians.
In 2010, it launched the Portuguese Youth Orchestra, representing Portugal in the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras, with international engagements at the Ateneu in Bucharest and the Konzerthaus in Berlin (Young Euro Classic Festival). It is an active participant in the MusXchange exchange programme for young European musicians and the Dudamel Foundation.
OCP brings together independent professional musicians who create innovative programmes. The group made its international debut in 2010 at the City of London Festival, and in Portugal has performed throughout the country. Notable collaborations include those with the National Ballet Company and festivals such as Cistermúsica, the Póvoa de Varzim International Music Festival, the Festival das Artes, Festival ao Largo, the Sintra Festival, Operafest, and the Óbidos Opera Festival. Every year, the OCP organises FIMCO (the Oeiras International Music Festival).
OCP is supported by the Directorate-General for the Arts and institutional partners such as the municipalities of Lisbon and Oeiras, PwC, Antena 2, the GDA Foundation, and the governments of the Azores and Madeira.
Conductor, percussionist, composer and teacher, Pedro Carneiro is co-founder and artistic director of the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra (OCP), the inclusive ensemble Notas de Contacto, the Portuguese Youth Orchestra (JOP) and various social projects. Among other honours, he has received the Gulbenkian Art Prize, an award from President Jorge Sampaio (marking the 30th anniversary of the 25 April Revolution) and the Medal of Honour of the City of Setúbal.
He has premiered and conducted over a hundred new works and collaborates with prestigious national and international musicians worldwide. He has performed with a wide variety of national and international orchestras: the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the SWR Symphonieorchester, the English Chamber Orchestra, the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, amongst many others.
He performs regularly as a conductor and soloist/director, conducting concertante works from the marimba. He is a professor at the Lisbon Higher School of Music (ESML). His extensive discography (which includes solo recordings, chamber music, concertante works and improvisation) is available on various record labels, such as ECM Records, Clean Feed and Rattle Records.
